Look in the classifieds at kingsnake.com under heaters. Some suppliers will attach the electrical cord to the Flexwatt for you prior to shipping. I recommend this until you get good at attaching. Price is about the same from many suppliers. ZooMeds get hot. A better heat pad is Ultratherm. See the Bean Farm for those. Pretty much just like Flexwatt but already fabbed and sealed better. A really good choice for anyone.

You need to use a controller. Cheapest is a lamp dimmer. Next cheapest is an ON/OFF thermostat sold for herp applications. Most expensive but best is a proportional controller. They are in the classifieds as well on kingsnake.

The ReptiSun is a good bulb. If the bulb is horizontal, chances are the snake will climb on it at some point, and if the snake is big, then it can potentially break the bulb. I've never seen that happen, and it probably won't happen, but I guess it could happen.. So how to cover a horizontal bulb? A mesh conopy and magnets maybe? I don't know. IMO bulbs should not be accessible to the snake..

Tile is great over a heater, I do that alot. But a thick layer of aspen can act as an insulater, making the glass very hot. A thin layer is better. I place tile - slate is great - over the heater and spread a little substrate around the tile but not much over the tile at all. Works.

>>You were saying use a ZooMed UTM plus flexiwatt on the back side? Or would this be two flexiwatts one under and one at the back?
>>
Yes. One under the cage floor - an 11x11 heat pad is plenty, and one taped to the rear wall vertically - that one can be 11x17 or whatever.

A temperature controller is crucial. Even a lamp dimmer is fine if the air temp in the room stays fairly constant. Kings are very good at thermoregulation but a choice of 110 deg or 68 deg with nothing inbetween is not good. That is why it would be best to ensure the tile top is in the 82-85 deg range, and only a temperature controller can do that.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]